The Memoirs Of An Orphaned Girl
by S. Solstace
Summary: Hi. My name is Holly MacDougal. I'm a 14 year old orphaned girl living in an occupied Gotham city. If you are listening to this tape, it most likely means that I have been killed, or, hopefully, that I have grown old and now want my family to know the story of my childhood. But if all goes well for Bane, I'll be dead long before I can start one...
1. First recording

_This idea came to me a little while ago, I hope it's alright! I've tried to make this as close to how a tape recording would sound as possible, constructive critiscism is welcome! I do not own any of the Batman movies or characters. Anyway, on with the story!_

* * *

THE FOLLOWING IS THE WRITTEN CONTENTS OF A TAPE RECORDING. NOISES IN THE BACKGROUND HAVE BEEN POINTED OUT USING BRACKETS [ ]. MINOR ERRORS ARE INEVITABLE AS THE TAPE WAS DAMAGED BY AN UNKNOWN FORCE. WARNING: CONTENTS MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME; DISGRESSION IS ADVISED.

* * *

Hi. If you are listening to this tape, it most likely means that I have been killed, or, hopefully, that I have grown old and now want my family to know the story of my childhood. Be warned; my childhood is no children's bed-time story; it's certainly something I wouldn't want to tell my children. But then again…Hell, if all goes well for Bane, I'll probably be dead long before I get the chance to start a family, right? Anyway, how about I introduce myself?

My name is Holly Rebecca MacDougal; I'm a 14 year old orphaned girl living in an occupied Gotham city. Something you should know about me before listening any further; I do not water down my words, I will describe everything that happens in detail. So listen at your peril, especially if you are squeamish.

Let me set the scene for you; it's January, fresh snow is on the ground. People, especially orphaned tramps like us, aren't safe anywhere. No one owns any property anymore, there is no law to protect us, we are completely and utterly alone in a cold, dangerous world; and it's all thanks to Bane.

Who's Bane you ask? Where to begin… He's a monster, that's what he is. He's an enormous man who wears a black mask with a bunch of tubes and wires over his mouth; no one really knows why. He's trapped all of the police in the subway tunnels underground, it's unclear whether they are alive or dead. He murdered the mayor and a scientist in a football stadium on live television; broke their necks in one swift motion, and it barely seemed to register to him. He told us that the city was ours, to do whatever we wanted but he also told us that he had a nuclear bomb, and he would set it off if any of us tried to protest or leave the city. It's true too; the scientist confirmed it, just before Bane broke his neck. He drives it around the city in an armored truck, a constant reminder that we are one wrong step away from being blown to bits. He's got Gotham city in his pocket, and there's nothing any of us can do about it.

It's thanks to Bane that I'm an orphan.

I live in what used to be a school gymnasium, along with other people like me, orphaned by Bane and his regime. There are six of us now; cold, sick, and hungry. Six orphans, not even old enough to drive a car, sleeping on the floor, huddling for warmth due to lack of blankets. Bane has a lot to answer for. Most of the kids here are the children of people who have tried to resist him; I'm a bit different.

My parents were not victims of Bane's firearms; they were victims of Bane's "justice". What did they do? Nothing. They were wealthy, and therefore, criminals in Bane's eyes. Show trials, well, sentencing hearings, are held every day; the people are given a choice; "exile, or death". If I'm ever put in that situation, I'll pick death, it's quicker, less painful, less terrifying.

If you pick death you die by shot-to-the-back-of-the-head; quick, and just about painless if done correctly. If you choose exile, you're put over thin ice and told to walk. If you make it to the other side, you can leave Gotham; but no one has ever made it to the other side. The person falls through the ice, and dies far more slowly; cold, and afraid. In the end, it's either die, or die, so choose wisely.

_["Aaaah!"] _

Oh dear… [*_Shuffle…shuffle…*_]

["Shh…Goldie, it's okay. It was just a nightmare…" _*Sob, sob* _"Try to go back to sleep, okay? Here, I'll sit with you…"]

… [*_Shuffle, shuffle_*]

That was Goldie, the youngest orphan here. Goldie is just a nickname; we don't know what her real name is. She hasn't spoken ever since her mother died. We found her just last week, next to her mother's body. She was shot in the chest, twice. The only reason we know that she was, at least a relative of Goldie, is because there was a picture of her, Goldie, and a man who we think was Goldie's father, in her wallet. We call her Goldie because her favorite color is yellow; *snicker* it's all she'll ever wear! …Oops, I should keep my voice down, the little ones are sleeping.

As I said before, there are six of us living here. Aside from Goldie and me; there's Leaf, Cameron, Ursula, and Niko. Leaf is the oldest and is more or less our leader. His parents didn't support Bane, but they didn't try to overthrow Bane either. I don't know what happened to his parents exactly; he refuses to talk about it.

Cameron's only 9; he lived with his grandfather all his life. His father worked as a gardener for a wealthy man named Jason Little. Bane's revolutionaries attacked the wealthy, and Little was one of the first men to go. His grandpa stood in the way, saying that "Mr. Little was a good man." One of the revolutionaries bashed his head in with a gun. Monsters…

Ursula and Niko are siblings; Ursula is 10, Niko is 15. Their father actually joined Bane-horrifying as it is, it's true. Their mother didn't approve- I wonder why- and kicked him out. A few days later she left the house to get supplies, and never came home. Their father might still be alive, but they have no way of knowing, and even so, they hate him for what he's done.

…2:45 AM, it's almost time for my watch. All of the older orphans have a watch schedule, just in case some revolutionaries come along and try to kick down the door. We highly doubt it will happen, but you never can tell with them. Leaf takes first watch, from 9:00 PM to 12:00 AM, then Niko takes watch from 12:00 AM to 3:00, and finally I take watch from 3:00 to 6:00, that's about the time everyone else starts waking up. During the day, the watchman is whoever is on hand. So far, we haven't had a break in, but we have had a few close calls. One of the revolutionaries saw Cameron peeking out the window, luckily we found a place to hide, the revolutionary didn't bother coming inside. That was close…

…2:55, I'd better go relieve Niko. [*_Thump, thump, thump*_] ["Niko, it's my turn to watch. You should go back to sleep; we've got a long day tomorrow."]

["No Holly, you go back to sleep, I can watch for a little longer."]

["Don't be stupid Niko; you and I have to go collect supplies tomorrow! Now give me the pistol and go to sleep!"]

[…*_Sigh* _"Fine, here's the gun, see you in the morning Holly."]

["G'night."]

…okay, I'm back. Watch really means sit by the door and look through the peephole every once in a while. We don't dare stand outside. I mean, think about it; someone standing by the door with a pistol, obviously something's up. Well, I'd better turn this thing off, I can't risk any distraction. Assuming nothing happens tonight, you'll hear from me again. [Click]


	2. Second recording

AT SOME POINTS IN THIS PORTION OF THE TAPE IS IT UNCLEAR WHO OUT OF THE GROUP OF SIX IS SPEAKING,

WHEN THIS OCCURS, THE SYMBOL M.V (MICELANEOUS VOICES) WILL REPRESENT THEM.

* * *

[Click, whir…]

Hi again. Since I'm speaking to you right now, or rather, since you can hear my voice right now, you probably have assumed that nothing's happened since the last recording; well, you'd be wrong there. Bane has freed everyone in Blackgate prison. Oh…joy. As we are deep in hiding, we don't venture out of our sanctuary very often. We do, however, have a radio. It's nearly always on, just in case Bane decides to make a radio announcement, -which happens quite often- or news that help is on the way comes –which has never happened-. Just around noon, when Leaf's third watch finished, Cameron and Ursula –who are nearly always monitoring the radio- called and told us that Bane was on.

'Guys! Bane's on, get over here!' Shouted Cameron, the group of us gathered around the radio the same way a family gathers around a television to listen to the news of a tsunami in another country. So horrible, that you have to watch. Bane's mechanical voice fills us all with terror, Goldie didn't say anything, but I knew she was just as scared as I was.

Bane called the prisoners in Blackgate "victims of oppression." He then went and told everyone in Gotham that Harvey Dent was a fraud. Harvey Dent was a beacon of light for everyone in this city, back when Gotham was a crime ridden hell hole. -Wait, Gotham is a crime ridden hell hole-. A third of the cells in Blackgate were filled because of Dent, and the city's crime rate had never been lower- and then Bane threw a wrench in everything.

He told us that Harvey Dent was not a noble man, but an insane megalomaniac who tried to kill Commissioner Gordon's son; and that Batman killed Harvey Dent in order to save his son. Bane claimed that he was reading a resignation speech written by Commissioner Gordon. 'I praised the madman who tried to murder my own child.' He said, 'I can no longer live with my lie. It is time to trust the people of Gotham with the truth, and it is time for me to resign.' Then there was an explosion, and the sound of cheering; I can only assume that he blew the doors of Blackgate prison to hell.

Bullshit, all of it. Of course, his mindless army of revolutionaries ate it all up. Do you know who the people in Blackgate are? The worst type of people; Murderers, rapists, torturers, you name it, Blackgate's got it. Bane is insane-who's he going to free next? Victor Zsasz? He's a serial killer-so why wasn't he freed along with everyone else in Blackgate you ask? Because he was not in Blackgate; the difference between him and the Blackgate prisoners is that Zsasz is criminally insane. Criminals like him were shut in Arkham asylum.

I've heard that Zsasz puts a tally mark on himself for everyone he's killed- and that he's running out of room on his arms and chest. If Bane lets the Arkham prisoners go free… Well, let's try not to think about that, shall we?

After that horrific news, Niko and I had to go collect supplies. We're running out of food, so we went to what was once a grocery store to fetch some more. We have to be very careful when leaving this place; we have to make sure that nobody sees us. So instead of walking out the front door, we slip out of the back window when nobody's looking. Each of us took a knapsack, and a knife. We only have one pistol; and the door guard uses that. It has yet to be fired, thankfully, but only time will tell how long it will be before we have to defend ourselves. Honestly, if Bane's revolutionaries come at us with their shotguns, a meat cleaver and a bread knife won't do us much good… but at least the people on the street won't try to steal our supplies.

We're careful to keep our heads down out there; as far as the revolutionaries are concerned, two ragged teenagers are easy pickings. We try not to get caught in a falling out with one of them, but, today, we did.

After stuffing our knapsacks with nuts, canned foods, and various non-perishable food items, we snuck around to get back home. But on the way back, Niko and I were spotted by a revolutionary.

"What's in the knapsack, kid?" He asked Niko, pulling him aside.

Niko muttered that it was just canned food for his family; the revolutionary pointed a crooked finger at the knapsack and said "open your bag."

Grinding his teeth with frustration, he opened the bag. The revolutionary grabbed several cans from the bag, almost emptying it "hey!" Shouted Niko "those are mine!"

And the revolutionary just smirked and said "No, they're everyone's, little man; I'm just claiming some of them. You really must learn how to share." I wanted to punch him the nose when he said that. We're starving. I've lost thirty pounds in two weeks and I was thin to start with; now you can count all of my ribs easily. Niko is as skinny as a rail; he used to be fat! We have six mouths to feed!

"What? Bane doesn't feed you?" Shouted Niko and he tried to wrestle two of the cans away from him, saying that his little sister needed it more than he did. Niko and I brandished our knives at him, and the man responded by pointing his shotgun at me. Niko eventually gave him five of our twelve cans of food, but as we ran off, he shot at us anyway.

He missed me entirely, but one bullet licked the side of Niko's face. Ursula and I have been tending to it all evening. When asked if it hurts, Niko insists that it looks worse than it is. It's not a very deep gash, which is good, because we have no means of sewing it up, but it's very long. He'll have a scar if nothing else, but I think that his pride is hurt more than anything. Cameron, as usual, is monitoring the radio. So far, nothing, no news that help is on the way, but also no news that things are going to get any worse for us. They couldn't get too much worse. Goldie has been having the nightmares again, she often wakes up screaming. I wish I could help her, I really do. Leaf is…

[CAMERON: "Ack! Guys, get over here now!"]

[HOLLY: "What's wrong Cameron?"]

[CAMERON: "It's Batman!"]

[NIKO: "What about Batman?" *thump, thump, thump!*]

[CAMERON: "Shh! Listen!"]

[_BANE (radio): _"…_and I know there are many of you who have heard the horrible rumors that some vigilante in a black mask, who calls himself 'the Batman', is going to just swoop in here and somehow change everything back to the way it was…"]_

[URSULA: *Gasp* "It's Bane!"]

[_BANE (radio): "…can assure these rumors are false. 'The Batman' or rather 'Mr. Bruce Wayne' as that is his real name has been dispatched. Consider him dead, as he poses no threat to…]_

[LEAF (further away): "That's enough, turn it off, Cameron."]

[*Click*]

[URSULA: "The Batman's dead…"

[NIKO: "No, Bane told us to 'consider him dead.' That's a dodge, Holly.]

[URSULA: "So, he's locked away somewhere?"]

[NIKO: "Most likely…"]

[LEAF: "wait, did Bane call him, 'Mr. Wayne."]

[HOLLY: "…yes! Bruce Wayne!"]

[M.V: "-Bruce Wayne? –The playboy? - Yeah, that's right! -…don't believe it! - …that's a load of…-]

[LEAF: "Shh! Quiet!"]

[HOLLY: "What…"]

[LEAF: "Shut it! … Everyone hide, now!]

[URSULA: "why…"]

[LEAF: Somebody's downstairs!]

[*_click*_]


End file.
